The Nuptial Flight 



to equalise, or allot more methodically, 

 the share he attributes to the universe 

 and to himself. 



[87] 



Let us return to the tragic nuptials of 

 the queen. Here it is evidently nature's 

 wish, in the interests of crossed fertilisa- 

 tion, that the union of the drone and the 

 queen-bee should be possible only in the 

 open sky. But her desires blend network- 

 fashion, and her most valued laws have to 

 pass through the meshes of other laws, 

 which, in their turn, the moment after, are 

 compelled to pass through the first. 



In the sky she has planted so many 

 dangers — cold winds, storm-currents, 

 birds, insects, drops of water, all of which 

 also obey invincible laws — that she must 

 of necessity arrange for this union to be 

 as brief as possible. It is so, thanks to 

 the startlingly sudden death of the male. 

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